Friday, June 8, 2012

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Though he wishes to remain anonymous, one Mesa resident wants his neighbors to know that his home was burglarized earlier this week.

“If it helps even one person,” he wrote in an email to The Santa Barbara Independent, “then I will feel a sense of accomplishment.”

This past Monday morning, the man was away on a business trip while his wife and children were at their Mesa Alta-area home. About four minutes after his wife and kids pulled out of the driveway, he said, their ADT alarm went off but didn’t deter the thief enough to stop him from swiping various pieces of the wife’s jewelry — including her engagement ring, which he said “has incredible sentimental value.” The thief apparently opted only to steal small items, leaving artwork and a MacBook untouched.

The police, the man said gratefully, arrived within five minutes of ADT notifying them, and they dusted for fingerprints, but the situation has still unnerved him. “It’s a bummer,” he said over the phone, lamenting the fact that the thief apparently wasn’t “scared away by potential protection devices.”

“Be vigilant,” he said, as advice to his neighbors. “If you see something that doesn’t look right, maybe pick up the phone and call somebody.”

Santa Barbara Police Department Sgt. Riley Harwood said that May did see a jump in the number of residential burglaries — 39 compared to the 17 in April and the 28 in March — but he does not yet have the specific figures for the Mesa neighborhood. “One active burglar can really skew those stats from month to another,” he said.

Harwood said that he and one of his fellow officers believe the spike could be due to many nonviolent offenders no longer doing as much time in prison. While he said that “there’s only so much you can do to prevent someone who’s really adamant,” Harwood offered multiple burglary-prevention tips, including instituting neighborhood watch programs and locking up valuables in a safe. He also suggested that people look into environmental design for crime prevention, recommending the Wikipedia page on the topic. (See it here.)

As for the Mesa Alta family’s burglary, Harwood said that he couldn’t release any specific details, but the investigation is ongoing.

“We have insurance to replace the material items that they took, but I can’t help feeling violated,” wrote the man whose home was broken into. “They stole a very important treasure that holds more meaning than its overall monetary value.”

Comments

@ azuresees... It really doesn't matter anymore. Drug addicts and thieves really don't do time until violence occurs in a high profile manner. Then it's too late for the victim. Jails are bursting at the seams with violent criminals that now feel victimized themselves if they don't get a grossly reduced sentence for a lesser charge.

People have always said the justice system is a joke, whether right or wrong, the claim has always been made. Crime rates are rising and there are real lives shattered as a result of "reforms" at the state and local levels. Victims should be going to their city council meetings/board of supervisors hearings to point at their representative and say "this is your fault".

As a life long republican it now makes me sick that our politicians care more about NOT raising taxes on the super rich than that mesa resident's jewelry being stolen. It's very fortunate they weren't home.

Don't pick your candidate by how he/she feels about your taxes. Pick them based on how they feel about your safety.

Copy that...Fact remains, that IF there are consequences for the junkie fools, then they will squeal.

True; elected officials rarely react until someone in their kitchen gets whacked by a burglary, or violence...Then watch the fervor..Well, depends on the victim, too :"disenfranchised?" : green light; grants go-get-em.

Drug addictions are also trending downward, which is probably a large driver of the drop in crime. For example meth and cocaine:

" -- Trends in lifetime use of amphetamine and methamphetamine indicate statistically significant declines from peak-year use among all three grades combined. Amphetamine use peaked in 1996 at 15.5 percent and decreased to 8.9 percent in 2010. Methamphetamine use declined from 6.5 percent in 1999 to 2.2 percent in 2010.

" -- According to NSDUH, current cocaine use gradually declined between 2003 and 2009 among people aged 12 or older (from 2.3 million to 1.6 million). MTF survey results show a steady decline in 2010 for current, annual, and lifetime prevalence of cocaine and crack abuse among all three grades combined, from peak-year use in 1999."

Yes let us get distracted and focus on these occasional break-ins surge. Meanwhile lesser sentimental takings committed by the GOP led chamber of commerce type clients go un-checked. The chamber of commerce types will have you shaking in your booties over a break-in while they're stealing our world. Set an example and start law enforcement at the top.

But I do empathize with this Mesa Alta family and this violation. I know it will take time to get over it completely. Very frightening and disconcerting.

The primary reason for increases in burglaries and robberies, as many studies have shown, is the absence of a physical police presence in that area. When burglars know that it is highly unlikely, if not improbable, that there might be a police officer cruising by, they know they have almost a zero possibility of being caught. The professional burglars case their target and know who the most vulnerable targets are, and when the best time of day is to hit the place. The only real unknown they must face is a patrol car cruising the neighborhood, but if there are none, then..............

In this town, when our police are consistently understaffed preventing them from conducting routine neighborhood patrols, helping to set up neighborhood watch groups, or keeping tabs on known burglar or burglary high risk areas, the burglar rates go up.

The poor leadership of our police department and our city government in this area is palpable. What is it going to take -- a resident getting killed in their own home by a surprised burglar caught in the act? Or, an officer getting shot after arriving at a burglary in progress alone because there aren't enough officers to provide him or her with a backup? Someone needs to look at police staffing levels in other similar cities and see what they have. I'd bet we'd be surprised.

I'll share a quick story (actually a long one that I will edit)Back in 2001 when working as a security guard at the News-Press I had some trouble in the parking lot that required police presence. I got some help but not enough because as the officer pointed out, (it was about 1:50 A.M. when he arrived) he had to go over to where the bars were and assist the other officers in the closing of the bars.

I got into a long war with the city council and the News-Press backed me up on that one. My complaint was that the city had not prepared for the amount of crime they had created by bringing all these bars in. In short, S.B. has grown, but the city has not kept up with these changes.

DingyDon: "Yes let us get distracted and focus on these occasional break-ins surge. Meanwhile lesser sentimental takings committed by the GOP led chamber of commerce type clients go un-checked. The chamber of commerce types will have you shaking in your booties over a break-in while they're stealing our world. Set an example and start law enforcement at the top."

Psst, Don, let it go dude. You're so-called "progressive" (not Progressive) sweep of the SB City Council FAILED (thanks to the Progressives in SB).Yeah, its all Rowse's fault, no, it's Francisco's fault, no, its Hotchkiss' fault, no, its Bush's fault. Run out of scepegoats yet there silly Donny?Give it a rest bitterboy, it's done, over, finished, get used to the fact. Gotta give you credit though, no use of the word "conservative" once. Maybe you are learning. Baby steps buddy, baby steps :) henry

For the owner who lost the jewlery in the burglury, check the Pawn Shops within the first three days of the burglury. Often when shiny small stuff is stolen in a burglury, the perp will try for the quick cash method and sell the stuff for instant cash, pawn shops and flea markets are big cashin's for the burglur to unload his ill-gotten goods. For the big things, check the E-bay type sites and collector auctions for the unloading of stolen goods, the cops check them out and if you are lucky to find your property at a shop or swapmeet, flea market, stake it out ontil law enforcement arrive, don't spook the theif by "outting" them, they can be armed and dangerous and WILL run!